Some Episcopal clergy invoke faith to counter ‘fascism’ after ICE killing of citizen in Minnesota; Episcopal News Service, January 13, 2026

David Paulsen, Episcopal News Service; Some Episcopal clergy invoke faith to counter ‘fascism’ after ICE killing of citizen in Minnesota

"When a U.S. citizen, 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, was killed last week by federal immigration officials in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the congregation at Grace Episcopal Church responded by finding solace in their faith. They gathered for worship and prayer. The Rev. Susan Daughtry, Grace’s rector, invited members that evening, Jan. 7, for an impromptu Compline on Zoom, and they grieved together.

Grace Episcopal Church is located about three miles from where an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official shot and killed Good in her car. Their brief altercation and its deadly conclusion were captured on video, generating intense reactions on all sides, from the White House to American communities far from the violent scene on a residential Minneapolis street.

Since then, Episcopalians and Episcopal clergy across the United States have joined anti-ICE protests and attended prayer vigils for Good. Some read her name in their Sunday services during the Prayers of the People. Many are looking to Jesus’ life and teachings for guidance on how best to respond, as Christians, to what some fear is an increasingly authoritarian and unchecked federal government.

“It’s been a painful week in Minnesota, and this is a critical moment in the history of our nation,” Minnesota Bishop Craig Loya said in a Facebook post inviting Episcopalians to join an online prayer vigil at 7 p.m. Central Jan. 13 on Zoom. Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe also will participate.

The Episcopal Church also is promoting its Protesting Faithfully tool kit, offering “spiritual grounding and practical resources for faithful presence at protests and public demonstrations.”"

3 Prosecutors Quit After Push to Investigate ICE Shooting Victim’s Widow; The New York Times, January 13, 2026

Ernesto Londoño , The New York Times; 3 Prosecutors Quit After Push to Investigate ICE Shooting Victim’s Widow

"Three Minnesota federal prosecutors resigned over the Justice Department’s push to investigate the widow of a woman killed by an ICE agent and its reluctance to investigate the shooter, according to people with knowledge of their decision.

Joseph H. Thompson, who was second in command at the U.S. attorney’s office and oversaw a sprawling fraud investigation that has roiled Minnesota’s political landscape, was among those who quit Tuesday, according to three people with knowledge of the decision.

Mr. Thompson’s resignation came after senior Justice Department officials pressed for a criminal investigation into the actions of the widow of Renee Nicole Good, the Minneapolis woman killed by an ICE agent last Wednesday.

Mr. Thompson, 47, a career prosecutor, objected to that approach as well as to the Justice Department’s refusal to include state officials in investigating whether the shooting itself was lawful, the people familiar with his decision said."

Could AI Help Bust Medicaid Scammers? Minnesota May Find Out; Government Technology, January 29, 2025

Nikki Davidson, Government Technology; Could AI Help Bust Medicaid Scammers? Minnesota May Find Out

"HOW CAN AI HELP?

The governor’s plan is to detect and flag anomalies for Medicaid providers, meaning an AI system would likely be trained to identify unusual or suspicious patterns in billing and payment data.

Suspicious patterns could include:

• Billing for an excessive number of services: Flagging providers who bill for significantly more services than their peers
• Billing for unnecessary or inappropriate services: Flagging claims for services that are not medically necessary or do not align with the patient's diagnosis
• Billing for services not rendered: Flagging claims for services that were never actually provided
• Unusual billing patterns or trends: Flagging providers whose billing practices deviate significantly from established norms or show sudden, unexplained changes

In an interview with Government Technology, Commissioner of Minnesota IT Services (MNIT) Tarek Tomes explained that this use case aligns with the state’s AI strategy of leaning into less controversial use cases that don’t reinvent any wheel, as many private-sector financial institutions already use similar technology.

“In our private lives, if we have suspicious credit card transactions, we generally get a text message asking, ‘Is this really you?’" said Tomes. “So using AI and machine learning to really look at patterns — both successful and unsuccessful patterns of transactions, and to be able to flag transactions for further review or further investigation is going to be a really important capability to add to those areas in government that have high transactions where financial benefits are paid out.”

At this point, it’s a waiting game until April or May to see if the AI pilot will be approved in the state’s budget. In the meantime, Tomes said MNIT is researching vendors and the capabilities they provide, especially in terms of low-fidelity prototypes.

If the pilot funding gets a green light from lawmakers, human beings will still play an essential role in the fraud detection process, investigating the flagged transactions for actual evidence of wrongdoing or fraud."

Minnesota colleges grappling with ethics and potential benefits of ChatGPT; Star Tribune, August 6, 2023

Hannah Pinski , Star Tribune ; Minnesota colleges grappling with ethics and potential benefits of ChatGPT

"While some Minnesota academics are concerned about students using ChatGPT to cheat, others are trying to figure out the best way to teach and use the tool in the classroom.

"The tricky thing about this is that you've got this single tool that can be used very much unethically in an educational setting," said Darin Ulness, a chemistry professor at Concordia College in Moorhead. "But at the same time, it can be such a valuable tool that we can't not use it.""